It really is time Reuters said something about media freedom in Thailand.

Alan Morison, editor of Phuketwan

Morison has told Radio Australia's Asia Pacific program that he and Chutima have "done absolutely nothing wrong".

"All we've done is republished one paragraph from the Reuters news agency and in that paragraph a human trafficker is quoted as making some allegations about the military along the coast north of Phuket," he said.

"The Royal Thai Navy isn't specifically mentioned in the paragraph and both Phuketwan and Reuters have gone out of their way to try to make sure that we don't make accusations that we don't have evidence for.

"The whole case really revolves around a very bad translation of the paragraph that we carried in English into Thai.

"Whereas the Royal Thai Navy isn't mentioned in the English version, the translators have managed to insert the Royal Thai Navy three times into the Thai version."

Phuketwan is a small but respected English-language news website based in Phuket. For years it has reported on the plight of Rohingya asylum seekers.

Morison, a one-time Melbourne Age journalist, has told AM he thinks the Thai navy is perhaps trying to wipe out Phuketwan.

"We think they've just gotten tired of our coverage and decided to teach us a lesson," he said.

"We've been exposing what's been happening off Thailand and inside Thailand for the Rohingya boat people who come down looking for sanctuary and find themselves in the arms of human traffickers - they are treated appallingly at every level.

Morison packs up office, prepares for the worst

"[The lawsuit] is a trumped-up charge. It's designed to put Phuketwan out of business - it's as simple as that."

But despite Morison putting on a brave face at the prospect of heading to jail, he has already packed up his Phuket office in preparation for the worst.

"We've been inside Phuket prison several times on different visits, so we know what it's like," he told AM.

"It's very crowded. There are 300 people to each cell. But at least they have a TV set in those cells now and ceiling fans."

He says he will take the stand later today and as a protest he will refuse to pay bail.

"We stand, not only... by the story, we think this is an iniquitous law and it really shouldn't happen in a democracy that the military sues the media," Morison told AM.

Human Rights Watch in Asia deputy director Phil Robertson has told AM it is "quite unusual" to see a branch of the military suing journalists for defamation.

"Much less using the Computer Crimes Act against them. It's a unique case. I can't really actually think of any other case like it," he said.

"Press freedom in Thailand has been going downhill for quite some time now and I'm quite concerned that this is another indication that... other parts of the government, like for instance the military in this case, will be prepared to try to silence critics using these draconian laws."

Reuters wins Pulitzer prize for Rohingya coverage

Reuters was this week awarded a prestigious Pulitzer prize for journalism for the investigation into the trafficking of Rohingya Muslims.